Frost in May (Virago Modern Classics) - Softcover

White, Antonia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1844083780 ISBN 13: 9781844083787

Publisher: Virago UK, 2006

Synopsis

Nanda Gray, the daughter of a Catholic convert, is nine when she is sent to the Convent of Five Wounds. Quick-witted, resilient, and eager to please, she adapts to this cloistered world, learning rigid conformity and subjection to authority. Passionate friendships are the only deviation from her total obedience. Convent life—the smell of beeswax and incense, the petty cruelty of the nuns, the glamour and eccentricity of Nanda's friends—is perfectly captured by Antonia White.

About this title

About the Author:

Antonia White was born in 1899 and educated at in London at St. Paul's and RADA. She worked as a journalist and in the Foreign Office, had four novels published and translated over thirty novels from French. She died in Sussex in 1980.

Review:

"Intense, troubling, semi-miraculous . . . It is not the only school story to be a classic; but I can think of no other that is a work of art."  —Elizabeth Bowen

"Frost in May is the unsurpassed novel of convent school life.  This story of a clash between a determined young girl and an authoritarian regime is both perceptive and painfully emotional, convincing in every detail."  —Hermoine Lee, Observer

"A masterpeice.  Beautifully written, is is a calm and factual record of the slow death of the soul."  —Selina Hastings

"Evelyn Waugh called [her] one of the very best novelists of the day - a title she still deserves."  —Carol Shields

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago UK
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1844083780
• ISBN 13: 9781844083787
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224